Porsche built the Macan into one of its core profit engines, then tried to reinvent it as a pure electric SUV and watched the strategy unravel in public. The company now concedes it misread both regulation and demand, and that the way it handled the transition hurt customers and its own bottom line. The reversal offers a rare, clear look at how a top performance brand can stumble when it bets too heavily on a single technological future.
How Porsche Misjudged the Macan’s Electric Future
The turning point came when Porsche decided the next Macan would be sold only as an EV, effectively killing the petrol version that had defined the compact SUV’s success. In an unusually blunt assessment, Porsche’s outgoing CEO, Oliver Blume, later admitted that “we were wrong about the Macan,” acknowledging that the company miscalculated by ending production of the combustion model instead of keeping it alongside the electric version to bridge the shift in technology, a move that left loyal buyers with no familiar option in showrooms and exposed the brand to a sudden change in market sentiment toward EVs, which cooled just as the new model arrived, according to Porsche’s outgoing CEO.
Jan reports that Porsche now openly says it was “wrong” to go all in on electric power for the Macan SUV and is changing course by fast tracking a new combustion or hybrid alternative, a sharp pivot that underlines how far the original strategy missed the mark and how quickly the company is trying to restore choice for customers who still want a traditional drivetrain, especially in markets where charging infrastructure and incentives have not kept pace with early expectations, a reality reflected in the company’s own reassessment of the Macan SUV.
Delays, Software Woes and Regulatory Whiplash
Even before the market cooled, the electric Macan program was hobbled by software problems inside the Volkswagen Group’s Cariad division, which forced Porsche to delay the launch until at least 2024 and left dealers and customers waiting for a car that was supposed to anchor the brand’s EV push, a setback detailed when Brad Anderson reported that the Macan had been pushed back because of unresolved digital systems and that Porsche would have to make a decision on its broader EV timing in the coming year, highlighting how dependent the SUV was on the troubled Cariad software.
Those delays were echoed elsewhere in the group, with The Porsche Macan EV launch described as postponed until at least 2024 over software development problems and other Volkswagen Group issues, and further reinforced by reports that the Electric SUV would not arrive until at least that year because the Cariad software division had slowed development progress, illustrating how a single bottleneck in code cascaded into a multi year product gap for a key model and left Porsche exposed to fast moving rivals in the premium EV SUV space, as seen in accounts of Porsche Macan EV and the delayed Electric SUV.
Compounding the misstep, European GSR2 safety and cybersecurity regulations introduced in July 2024 forced Porsche to discontinue the existing petrol Macan in Europe because the aging platform could not meet the new standards without a complete overhaul, a regulatory shock that meant the company had effectively removed the combustion model from a key region before the electric successor was ready, a sequence that now looks like a textbook case of timing risk in a transition market and is described in detail in reports on how Compounding the regulatory changes hit Porsche.
Customer Backlash, Financial Strain and a Rapid U‑Turn
On the ground, early owners of the electric Macan have voiced frustration with glitches and usability quirks that undercut Porsche’s reputation for bulletproof engineering, with one discussion noting that “All of the individuals who have experienced issues with their cars, myself included” were dealing with problems across a significant number of vehicles, a sentiment that suggests the software and hardware integration was not as seamless as buyers of a premium SUV expect and that the rollout has required rapid updates and fixes to restore confidence among the most engaged All of the Macan EV owners.
Other drivers have described basic control issues, including one account that “Pressing for a fraction longer makes it move” when discussing how the car responds to inputs, and that it had always required a solid press rather than a light touch to make certain functions work, a small but telling example of how the learning curve and calibration of new interfaces can frustrate users who expected the same intuitive feel as earlier combustion models, especially when combined with the complexity of “all new tech available” in the latest generation, as reflected in owner reports about Pressing for controls.
Former CEO Oliver Blume, who stepped down at the start of 2026, has since framed the decision to make the next generation Macan exclusively electric as a mistake in hindsight, with Jan describing this as a Misstep in the Macan Playbook and noting that he now concedes that hindsight is 20/20, a rare public admission from a top executive that the company moved too aggressively and underestimated both the regulatory and customer risks tied to an all EV strategy for such a critical model, as detailed in coverage of the Misstep and further explored in analysis of how Car companies, including Porsche, were more excited about EV prospects in the early 2020s than the market ultimately justified.
The financial impact has been significant. Porsche AG has cut its 2025 guidance for the fourth time as EV delays mount, with Porsche (Porsche AG) and Parent company Volkswagen AG both adjusting expectations after slowing demand and postponed launches, a pattern that underscores how the Macan’s troubles are part of a broader recalibration of electric ambitions across the group, as outlined in reports that Porsche AG is trimming forecasts. At the same time, Globally, Porsche’s sales volume in the first nine months of 2025 is 6 per cent below last year’s figures, even as the company expects a stronger fourth quarter, a sign that the transition period is weighing on deliveries and that the mix between combustion, hybrid and EV models is still in flux, according to the company’s own update that begins with the word Globally.
Internally, Porsche is trying to steady the ship by emphasizing that, Nevertheless, the existing all electric model range is being continuously updated and that it is gearing Porsche towards strong, sustainable and value creating growth, a message delivered by CFO Dr Jochen Breckner as the company reported robust net cash flow and sought to reassure investors that the EV pivot is being refined rather than abandoned, even as specific projects like the Macan are rethought, according to the financial figures that highlight the word Nevertheless. That recalibration includes a broader EV pullback in which the 911 maker shelved a future battery powered luxury SUV and said it would add more combustion engine and hybrid models, a move that sent the stock down sharply and highlighted cracks in the German auto empire as described in reports that cite the figure 911 m and refer to the shelved SUV.
On the product side, Porsche has already walked back the idea that the Macan will be all electric forever, confirming that the current Macan no longer meets safety standards in Europe and has been discontinued there while it continues to be sold in other markets, and that a new combustion or hybrid successor is being developed, likely by borrowing parts from within the group, a strategy that effectively restores a petrol option after the failed attempt to replace it outright with an EV, as detailed in analysis of the Macan’s status in Europe. The German marque has also publicly admitted it was wrong to phase out the internal combustion engine powered Porsche Macan compact SUV completely, with Jan describing how the company acknowledged it “got it wrong with the Macan,” a rare corporate mea culpa that now frames the SUV as a case study in how not to manage a transition, as captured in coverage of The German brand’s admission and in reports that Former CEO Oliver Blume, who stepped down in early 2026, said the decision to make the next generation Macan exclusively electric was such a departure that, in his view, it should not even be called the Macan, a striking comment on how far the EV version strayed from the original formula, as noted in coverage of Former CEO Oliver.
Technically, the electric Macan is no half measure, with Porsche saying it has tested its new electric baby in a variety of climates and very extreme operating conditions on test tracks and public roads around the world, an effort to ensure that range and performance meet expectations even if the market rollout has been rocky, as described in engineering focused briefings from Porsche. Yet the gap between that technical ambition and the lived experience of owners, regulators and investors explains why Porsche now says it “blew it” with the Macan and why the company is racing to rebuild a lineup that balances combustion, hybrid and electric power in a way that better matches how quickly drivers are actually willing and able to change.
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